Amarelia's Roses
by idk-i-like-cats
Summary: Polar opposites should always repel each other. That's how it should be, and always has been. Change, however, is inevitable.
1. Red Boots

**Chapter One**

"So that's why I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me."

He stared down at the girl with long, wet hair, roots a dark natural color he couldn't see very well while the spring sun blazed through an open window. Her dress was white, with pink polka dots, and she wore a fluffy black sweater over it. Was she…barefoot?

"Where are your shoes?"

"I'm waiting for them to dry in the greenhouse."

Silence spanned between them. The girl twirled her bleached hair with her index finger absentmindedly while Nathaniel shuffled papers. They both turned to say something at the same time.

"You first," the girl said.

"I've never been on a date, and I don't want my first one to be on account of a dare."

She grinned cheekily. The glint of braces shone on her teeth.

"It's okay," she said, "I've never been on one either."

"I'm Nathaniel," he reached out his hand to shake hers.

"Amarelia, but you can call me Amy."

She rejected his handshake and took up an occupation in a plastic blue chair that had been cast to the side. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and she played with the lace on the end of her dress for a bit while Nathaniel signed off a few papers. He turned to look at her, and she dropped her legs so her feet brushed the floor.

"I can go get your shoes for you if you promise not to touch anything."

"You don't need to talk to me like I'm a child." She blew a raspberry at him.

_You dress like one_, he thought to himself before turning on his heel to leave.

It was scalding outside despite it being only March. He approached the garden with his usual air of authority, stopping when he saw Jade.

"Did a girl come by and leave her shoes in the greenhouse?"

"Amy? Yeah, she always does. On her way to first bell the basketball team always dunks her in the pool."

"_Why?" _

"She's on swim team, so they like to joke and say its extra practice."

"Who actually does it?"

"Castiel, and sometimes their coach helps."

"Of course," and he grumbled all the way into the greenhouse.

The winding path of thriving vines and thick clusters of flowers tripped him up, the already warm temperature amplified to the point of it being unbearable. He loosened his tie. Beads of sweat swelled on his forehead. He hadn't realized how large the greenhouse actually _was. _

He stopped at a small planter box in the corner, a large sign stabbed in the middle. It read _AMARELIA'S ROSES _in big pink and blue letters, and even though it was soiled with dirt, he could make out small designs in glitter glue.

It was swollen past the point of breaking with rich brown earth. It spilled all over the shelves, and he made a note to raise the budgets in the gardening club to buy new planters. There were a few Alba roses, pastel pink, and scattered throughout were American Pillars. The flowers themselves were not constrained to the planter. They were growing all through the shelves, invading other boxes, licking up the sides of the building. He was a bit appalled.

"Nathaniel? Did you find her shoes?" Jade called into the greenhouse. "They're by her planter!"

Bright red boots caught his eye, one with purple shoelaces and the other with striped Christmas ribbon. They had some noticeable spots of wetness, but he decided it would be best if she wasn't caught by the principal for violating dress code. She always freaked when it came to dressing appropriately, especially now Amber and her posse were stomping all over the rule book in their short shorts and tank tops.

"Her socks are by the bouquets!" Jade finished, closing the greenhouse door.

There were two random socks, one a thigh high black lace one, its partner covered in purple hearts and little cat faces. She really did have a strange sense of fashion.

Once he had made it back to the council room, he was drenched in sweat and Amy had sprawled over a couch made of linked chairs. She was holding her hips in the air and cycling her legs like she was riding a bike. Her legs were incredibly pale and smooth.

He cleared his throat.

She dropped her legs down, letting her dress fall in pools on the chair and smiling.

"You got my shoes!" Amy hopped up and reunited herself with them. "It must've been really hot outside; your face is all red."

"Ah, um, yeah," he stuttered, grabbing his clipboard. "Really hot outside."

"What time is it?" She chimed, riding her sock up her leg. "I have swim practice soon."

"Eleven-oh-four. And make sure you tell me next time they drop you in the pool, okay?"

She nodded. "I'll call on you anytime I'm in trouble, all-mighty protector." Amy saluted.

He shook his head in disapproval before letting his eyes train on her when she skipped out of the door. The silence in the room felt strange now that she had left, and he made a decision to watch swim practice after Calculus.


	2. Not Horrible, But Rude

**Chapter Two**

"Nathaniel!"

Crap. He'd been caught trying to escape from swim practice. It was he, and three other cheering freshmen, that had watched the event. They were squealing over the new coach, and Nathaniel had caught the shyer girls watching from inside the school building.

Amy came jogging up with a white towel strung over her arm and her hair in a blue swim cap. She was wearing the school's colors on her swimsuit – pastel blue and white. For being on the swim team, she was remarkably pale, save her sunburned shoulders.

"I was just leaving," he mumbled, and as he turned on his heel, Amy grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait, you have to meet the new coach! He's our best yet. C'mon." She gripped his forearm like a vice and pulled him towards the boy's locker room, where the coach was reclined against a wall and smoking a cigarette, a Sports Illustrated in his hands.

"Hey, Coach Dake! This is Nathaniel. He's our president."

He looked up from his magazine and Nathaniel immediately felt assaulted by his harsh gaze. His eyes were electric green and he forced a smile that turned into an unwelcoming grimace. When he turned back to flip open the magazine, he caught a glimpse of an exotic tattoo on his upper arm. A grim memory flooded his mind.

"Nice to see you again, _Dake." _His voice dripped with malice while Amy stood between them, an oblivious grin on her face.

"That's Coach Dake to you. What's with the attitude?"

"Oh, nothing. Just having a bad day." His jaw was set, now, a steely expression that made even dense Amy notice the tension in the air. She grabbed Nathaniel's arm and steered him away, waving goodbye to Dake, who presented her with a sugary smile.

"What's with you, sassy pants? That's a member of the faculty!" She looked at him with angry brown eyes, a color that calmed him. He hated sweets, but he had to admit her shade of melted chocolate was somehow comforting.

"I used to have a crush on this girl and we both happened to go to the beach for summer vacation. He was there, stole her away from me, kissed her, and that was the only time I have ever punched someone in the face." The steaming blond had no idea why he was investing this story in Amy – he barely _knew _her – but it felt nice to tell someone, nonetheless.

"Why on earth would you punch a girl in the face?" Her expression was a funny blend of befuddlement and anger.

Nathaniel burst into cheerful laughter, a sound that comforted Amy into giggling a bit herself. "Wait!" She cried, the smile falling from her face, "Abuse isn't funny! Why would you punch a girl in the face?"

"I didn't punch her, I punched him!" His face was pink from laughing so hard, but brightened when she started snorting. As soon as the second or third snort rolled around, she threw a hand up to cover her embarrassing laugh.

"Well then I guess that means you're not a _horrible _person. Maybe rude, but not horrible."

They settled onto a bench. "Rude? How?"

She pulled her hair out from her swim cap, pulling it into a messy ponytail. "How are you not rude? You punched my favorite teacher in the face!"

"He deserved it! He was kissing a minor!" They both had easy-going grins on their faces, a rare occurrence for both of them.

A dark blue jacket went over her swimsuit. "He just has a weak spot for pretty girls! He told me so!"

"So he tried putting the moves on you, too?"

"No! I asked him who his favorite swimmer was, and he said me because I was pretty. That's not flirting, that's stating your opinion!"

He chuckled. "If you say so. Let me know when he goes too far, alright?" As he stood up to leave, he watched her pull up a pair of cutoff red shorts and pull her toes into pink flip-flops.

"Okay, okay. Whatever you say, Prince Nathaniel." She gave him a catty smile and linked her arm in his. "Care to walk me home on this fine evening?" Her voice was thick with a fake British accent.

"I would like nothing better." They both bubbled into laughter, halfway through walking home their hands slipping down and lacing with each other.


	3. Not A Shoddy Makeup Job

**Chapter Three**

They'd known each other a whopping, juicy three months. She was head over heels – he was handsome, concerned with the environment, and absolutely _infatuated _with her. When she forgot to tend to her roses, he did them for her. When he forgot to put up the supplies, she did him a solid.

So why she was so choked up when he asked her out to coffee, she did not know. Her mouth was dropping open and closed like a huge, embarrassing, flopping, red-faced, regular fish-out-of-water. He stood in front of her, leaning on the greenhouse shelf, and she apologized.

"I, uh, sorry…" How stupid could she _sound? _

"Not a problem. Tell me when you have an answer, alright?" Jade's cheery, ever-so-handsome smile melted her heart and she bolted out of the greenhouse before she lost any more of her dignity.

As she approached the school doors she smoothed down her yellow dress, a shade completely not matching her mood, and started _bawling. _She had never been one for tears. Her dad left – shrugged it off and took a nap. Had to repeat sixth grade – easy enough. Study harder. Her sister moved out and stopped calling – her loss. But now, after being asked out on a simple _freaking _date, she was crying.

And of all people to catch her sniveling and sobbing like a sloppy baby was the one who today, not much unlike any other, was wearing a freshly ironed pair of khakis and a crisp white shirt. He had his trademark clipboard tucked under his arm.

"Amy? Are you okay? Why are you crying?" He reached out a tentative hand to her purple-cardigan-clad shoulder, but she furiously shrugged it off.

"Dear god, you dense asshole! Do you ever stop carrying around that fucking stupid clipboard? Take your head out of your ass! Everyone knows you barely do shit around the school! You just dick around with that clipboard that has the same damn fucking papers on it that it did last week!"

A courtyard full of coffee-drowned, cigarette-binged teenagers watched in horror as she grabbed it out of his hands, not giving one flying-fish-fuck, gripped either side, and cracked it over her knee.

When it actually shattered, splinters of wood flying every which direction, Nathaniel was surprised. He was then appalled as he realized that she had not only broken his clipboard, but ripped in half the newly printed permission slip for the spring formal he had planned on announcing that morning.

"I didn't think someone like you was capable of that." He then, not fearing for his loss of pride, gathered the shrapnel from her attack and tossed it in the trash bin. Amy watched with tearful, angry eyes as he brushed off his khakis and pushed open the heavy doors to Sweet Amoris with strong arms.

**OoO**

About three minutes before the bell rang, as Amy was getting her things out of her locker, she had a revelation. _Maybe, _she thought, _I should apologize. _The blonde, wearing today with her dress a purple cardigan, beaded purse and trademark red boots, marched straight into the room across the hall, raised her finger in accusation, and stopped.

In front of her, a good ten feet, Nathaniel towered over Melody, who was biting her lip and smiling up at him. It was like she _knew _he was looking at her with a face and stand that could only say, _you're mine and no one's going to take you away from me. _For some reason, she felt personally assaulted. Was Melody a vampire hunter? That could've been one explanation for why she felt like there was a white-hot stake being driven through her chest.

Amy cleared her throat. Nathaniel swallowed and took about five too many steps away from Melody, who looked assaulted before realizing there was another person in the room and smoothed out her skirt. Her hands flew to her mouth, wiping away a smudge of misplaced lipgloss.

Wait.

That was _not _a shoddy makeup job. Nathaniel had been hooking up with Melody in the student council room?

Wow.

She really did _not _see that one coming.

"Nathaniel, I wanted to talk to you." She gave a weak smile to Melody, whom she recognized as the friendly girl who'd given her lunch money in junior year after it'd been taken by some rude girl from the basketball team. What was her name again? Oh, yeah. Georgia. When she refused to step out of the room, Amy said, "Privately."

The pretty brunette tugged down the sleeves on her green blouse. As she walked by, Amy thought, _wow, bad color choice. _She looked much better in blue.

Nathaniel rubbed his lips together. "I can tell," Amy smirked.

He looked startled. "What are you talking about? Tell what?" His cheeks were red. He fingered a pink, lip-shaped mark on his neck.

"You just confirmed it." She twirled a piece of hair on her finger. "That's not what I came here to talk about. I wanted to say sorry for this morning."

"It's fine. All girls get like that sometimes." He shuffled some papers around on the table, sitting down.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Were you implying that I'm on my period?"

"What?" He started rubbing his forehead like he had a migraine. She figured she'd have one if she was talking to herself, too. "No. I meant girls are a little more emotional than guys. It's admirable, though, the sensitivity of girls."

"That's actually…I don't know. Sweet." He looked up at her, a weak smile on his face. "I really am sorry, though. This guy had asked me out this morning and for some ungodly, awful, unexplained reason I started bawling and I was embarrassed that you saw it because you're actually pretty cute and smart, which is really hard to find in a guy…" she was rambling. And dear _god, _he was actually sitting there smiling at her tiny, immaterial explanation. "Um. Wow. That was embarrassing. Forget I said that. I'll see you at swim practice?"

"Yeah. I'll be there." He felt a small flutter of butterflies in his chest. "Oh, and Amy?"

She turned around.

"You can talk to me about things like that. I'll understand."

A smile played at her lips. "Thanks. I will."


	4. Hope

**Chapter Four**

"Amy!" _No_. "Amy, come over here!" _God no please fuck yourself._ "Amy! I brought some friends!" _Holy fucking shit I am in such a bad mood what the fuck is wrong with human civilization god dammit the basketball team makes me ashamed to be a human holy flying primate testicles._

A hand seized her thin upper arm and pulled her away from the school, and towards the back, where the pool resided. She could almost feel the lukewarm, chlorinated, pee-smelling water seeping through the soft cotton of her breezy tank top, a new gift from her mom. It was bright pink, sporting white, heart-shaped buttons and giant roses. It was embarrassing to wear. She wished she could've brought a change. It would've been too much of a hassle.

This was too much of a hassle. She wished she was stronger. The blonde had good legs, but she wouldn't dare kick them. Dear god, no. They might inflict some real harm on her.

She could faintly smell Castiel's musty scent of cigarette smoke, and the team captain, Georgia, and her overwhelming, ever-present, stifling, wafting cloud of cherry blossom perfume, most likely the worst perfume ever created.

Bracing herself, Amy plugged her nose and winced, but was shocked when someone actually – believe it or not – _called out and tried to stop them_. It was from far away, however, and they hastily tried to hide the evidence by throwing her into the stagnant water. When it rained down on them, Amy had a vague thought of jokingly painting a splash zone around the pool.

She surfaced, gasping for air, and focused her eyes on the scene playing out in front of her. Castiel was shouting at Nathaniel and Melody, who Amy thought grimly were probably on their way to make presidential children. Melody rested a manicured hand on Nathaniel's shoulder. He shook it off and shouted, "What are you doing? What did she ever do to you?" And to that, Castiel shrugged and joined Georgia and the rest of the team on finishing their morning warm-ups.

"Hold up! Answer me when I'm talking to you!" He took a step towards the redhead, who turned and raised his eyebrows. She couldn't blame him – even she was surprised when he stepped up.

"I don't have anything to say to you. If I see someone like that," he pointed at me, "I can do whatever I want. C'mon, she's asking for it!"

She was not expecting Nathaniel to cock back his arm, and extend it, the destination in the dead middle of Castiel's face. She heard the contact. It lurched the pits of her stomach. What made her feel even sicker was when Castiel reached forward and returned the gesture, knocking Nathaniel back a few feet. Melody was running for the school building, hopefully to get help, but she tripped and twisted her ankle wearing those stupid heels. Who wears heels to school? Seriously, it's _school, _not a fashion show. Amy silently hoped she gashed open one of her perfect knees and it was gushing out blood all over the pavement.

As the bleach blonde heaved her water-clogged body from the pool, depositing her now soaked messenger bag on the asphalt, she stepped between the brawling boys.

Bad timing.

Stars appeared in her eyes when Nathaniel cracked his knuckles on the bridge of her nose, knocking her into Castiel, who fell and scrambled away, cursing. She felt tears stinging in her eyes, and the taste of metallic blood running down her lips and chin caused her to scream at the president, who was staring at her in shock.

_"What the fuck was that for?" _

"I…I d-didn't mean to…I mean, you were in the way…"

"How in the hell did you not see me get out of the pool and stand between you guys? Fuck! Do you have something to wipe my _bleeding nostrils _with?"

He dug a handkerchief from his pocket and hesitantly gave it to her, scared if he got too close she might bite his fingers off or something. She certainly looked mad enough to do so. When she drew her thin fingers away from her face, Nathaniel's jaw dropped.

The bridge of her nose was on the wrong side of her face. It was already swollen, red to the point of blending in with the smears of blood as she mopped her face. Not fearing any more pain, she gripped the bridge of her nose with her fingers, and upon hearing the delicious sound of cartilage breaking, she shifted it to a more suitable position between her eyes.

"Oh, god, that hurt. Help me up, Mr. President." He held out a hand, the other stopping the Niagara Falls gushing from her nose.

He delicately pulled her to her feet, flashing an uncertain grimace. She was breathing through her mouth, and he silently admired the delicate cupid's bow of her lips. He had originally thought she herself was delicate, a fragile thing, like a young child, but seeing someone perform the horrendous feat of cracking their nose over to one side of their face definitely changes that.

"Do you want me to do anything for you?"

"Other than leave me alone?" She snapped at him, walking away. "I'm going to the nurse's office. Can you get me my make-up work?"

"Of course," he was jogging to catch up with her. "I was going to do that anyway. I meant something I wouldn't normally do."

"Oh, because you're such a model citizen." The sassy blonde had shifted, resting a cocked hand on her hip. "I can't think of anything."

"Did you need a lift somewhere?"

"I have my own driver's license."

"I feel really bad, at least let me do something to make up for it." He was panicking. The ugly head of guilt was rearing in his stomach.

"I hope you do feel horrible! You just broke my fucking nose!"

He hated when she mouthed off like that. "Is there anywhere new you want to go to? _Anything?_"

"Oh! I know!" A grin lit up on her face.

"Oh thank god. What is it?"

"There's that amusement park that just opened up out of town!" She already looked overly excited.

"I heard about that. Do you want me to take you?"

"I want you to go with me!" She had already linked her free arm into the crook of his elbow. "Think about it – you buying me cotton candy, going on rides together, it'll be so much fun!"

"I-I guess…" To tell the truth, he hated amusement parks. Loud areas crammed with screaming little kids and people getting sick and bloated on candy and wasting their money on stupid rigged games was not his idea of fun. But he owed it to Amy.

"It'll be like a date!" They were inside the school now, the refreshing air conditioning bathing Amy in a much-needed burst of chilled relief.

"A date?"

"Have a nice day!" She was off and running towards the nurse's office, waving at him and still clenching his handkerchief to her nose.

A date. His first date. He was pacing by the time he had arrived to the student council room, knitting his eyebrows together and biting his lip. Was it even a real date? He was doing it as a favor, but the way she'd described it…that's what boys did on dates, right? Bought girls things? Oh god. What if she tried to kiss him? That was okay, though, he had experience with kissing girls. He did _not, _however, have any knowledge on dates. They _had _held hands, before, though. He didn't think it was right to hold hands with a girl and not plan on doing it again. Holding hands wasn't kissing, or dating, though. Agh! He was giving himself a migraine, and someone was clearing their throat behind him.

It was Melody. She had a huge Band-Aid strapped across one of her tiny knees, and was smiling at him.

"I explained what happened to the principal. She said she'd let you off with a warning." Her fingers were already at her skirt zipper, tugging, the sound of the plastic links being pulled apart echoing in his head.

"Thanks. Did you see Amy on your way over here? She broke her nose."

"Who?" Her arms were around his neck, pulling his lips down to hers. He didn't even have a chance to answer. They were doing a two-step shuffle to the door, pulling down the shades on the glass, locking it, and continuing their waltz across the room, lowered the blinds on all the windows before both clearing the table and Melody plopping down on it.

Her legs were wide open for Nathaniel to fit into. He had to admit, Melody had a generous figure, full of dips and curves, feminine in every way. She always smelled of ripe strawberries and her hair was soft and touchable, the gentle kinks pulling through the spaces of his fingers effortlessly. There was once a time when he thought he was in love with her, but when he found out she was dating someone outside school, they had restrained their relationship to sloppy hookups in the council room. He'd been heartbroken. To make matters worse, she'd broken up with her boyfriend and asked him out just last year, making him hurt and confused.

That didn't matter now. What mattered was her soft skin, the noise she made when his fingers explored the indulgent plain of her stomach, and how when they pulled away, her breath cascaded on his mouth and she smelled so _sweet. _Her lips were a sinful pleasure, always plump and easy to enjoy.

His fingers were at the waistband of her underwear, feeling the lace before pulling them down her smooth legs. He loved Melody's legs. They were endless, tan, toned, beautiful, and when they wrapped around him to pull him in closer, he felt himself slipping away into absolute euphoria.

Her breath was heavy in his ear, patterned with quiet moans. Her nails scraped through his hair, pulling him into another heated kiss. He could tell she was close – she was scratching his back and had locked him into her with her ankles.

He loved the release. Waves of pleasure rippled through the air, partnered with harsh breaths and the sound of Melody asking Nathaniel to help her find her underwear. They found them near the bookcase.

Before she left, Nathaniel was looping his belt around his waist, seriously contemplating if it was healthy to continue having casual sex with a girl he hadn't even been on a date with. She hesitated at the door, resting her hand on the handle before turning around to him.

"Nath?" She had a shy smile on her face.

"Yeah?" He was already back into his normal position, shuffling through forms and future school events.

"This weekend, do you want to maybe hang out somewhere? Like on a date?"

Shit. "Um, yeah. Sounds great."

She grinned. "I'll call you. Um, have a nice day. See you in calculus."

"You too."

_Shit_. Shit, shit, shit. Why was he so stupid? Maybe Amy would want to go on Friday instead of the weekend. Was his thing with Amy even a date?

He certainly didn't hope so.


End file.
